I Am Horsewoman, Therefore I Shop

Last week I attended the Whatcom County Hill and Valley 4-H Tack Sale held in Laurel, Washington. Being the quintessential horse owner on a tight budget, I can’t resist a tack sale, tack auction, garage sale that lists tack for sale, or a tack store that has a clearance sale going on.

This trip proved to be fruitful. There is a portable vacuum/blower unit I’d been coveting in one of the many equine supply catalogs I have sent to me monthly, and I found one for about 1/3 of the price of a brand new one. Fortunately for me, I had managed to save a bit of money in my horse budget this past month, so the cash was there for the spending!

Because I’m gearing up for show season on a tight budget this spring, I’ve been carefully mapping my "shopping events" and budgeting for those items I still need, like a new-to-me pair of show chaps and a silver snaffle bit for my gelding.

One great tool I've been using to help plan which tack sales and auctions to attend is our very own Northwest Horse Source Events Calendar. If you haven’t visited the calendar lately, you might want to check it out (click here).

But don't bookmark it yet! Our new and improved version is coming next week, so check out the link above to find something to do this weekend, then come back next week for the new permanent link and an easier-to-use format for both finding events and posting your own. Don't worry if you have an event posted to the old calendar—all events there will be available on the new calendar as well.

In the meantime, get out and Ride!

Wednesday's Northwest News and Info Update

Are you living in Central Oregon and finding it a true struggle to keep hay in the manger for your horses?  Take a look at this article, which talks about help for struggling horse owners in Central Oregon. 

Did you know that the state horse of Idaho is the Appaloosa?  For more interesting facts on horse demographics in Idaho, visit the Idaho Horse Council.

For those of you importing a horse from the US into Canada, be aware that there are now additional regulations due to outbreaks of contagious equine metritis (CEM).  Click here for more information on CEM.

If you have interesting or important news from your area of the Northwest, please drop us a line at karyn@nwhorsesource.com and we’ll consider it for our Wednesday "Northwest News and Information" here on The Cyber Saddle.

In the meantime, get out and ride!

After the Floods: Helping Horses and Horse Owners in the Northwest

This Monday, we're interrupting our regularly scheduled reader photo of the week to bring you some important news.

Many horses in the Pacific Northwest are short on food after the flooding earlier this spring. Many grassroots efforts have emerged to help horses and horse owners get back on their feet and keep all of these horses happy, healthy and fed. NWHS would like to point out the incredible organization of the efforts going on at www.flakesale.com. Visit their website for a broad variety of information, including a printable flyer you can post to help spread the word, post-flood cleanup tips, and video updates on the situation.

Each $5 donation goes to feed a single horse for a full day. If you're able to help, please do. If you're in need of help, visit www.flakesale.com to apply for aid. Their efforts are focused on Washington State, but we realize there are many Oregon horse owners who need help just as much.  If you know of an aid organization anywhere within the Pacific Northwest that is helping horses and horse owners in times of need, please let us know so we can spread the word!

Planning Ahead

Last night on my hour-long drive home from riding my gelding I was mentally going over everything I need to accomplish between now and March 13th when we head out for our first show. I have tack that needs serious deep show cleaning, a camper that I will have to get de-winterized and ready for use (plus licensed and reinsured for the season), show clothes that need to be altered to fit better (I’ve lost a bit of weight!), and I need to start ordering some common show supplies like hoof polish, body shine, etc. The list is big. 

Then it dawned on me that I need to create a list with target deadline dates so I can make sure I get these things done in a timely fashion. What kinds of things do you do to better organize yourself for going to shows or clinics, a day on the trails, a week of camping, etc?

You can post your ideas here under our comments section or email me directly at Karyn@nwhorsesource.com.   I would love to put together a resource to share with all of you so we all can ensure we’re as prepared as possible, with minimal effort, for those things we enjoy doing.

In the meantime, put on some extra clothing layers to ward of the chill and get out and ride!

Wednesday's News: January 21, 2009

Attention all Washington State horse owners:  

House Bill 1232 was introduced January 15, 2009 to revise current RCW wording to include breeding, training and boarding business activities as legitimate Agriculture classifications for taxation purposes.

To read more about the bill, visit www.washingtonvotes.org/2009-HB-1232.  To learn how to contact your district’s representatives so you can urge them to vote for this bill, visit http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx. 

For Oregonians:

Those of you in close proximity to Oregon State University might want to check out their new seminar series for horse owners starting January 26, 2009!  For more information visit http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ncs/newsarch/2009/Jan09/horseowners.html 

Neglected and Abandoned Horses:

For those interested in the rising issue of neglected and abandoned horses, here is a very informative story out of Montana http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/as_costs_of_ownership_rise_more_horses_left_behind/7664/

Let us know if Wednesday’s information and news links are helpful.  You can also share news stories and informative links you come across with me so I can share them with the rest of our readership.  Drop me a note at Karyn@nwhorsesource.com.  

In the meantime, get out and ride!

Reader Photo of the Week

This weeks photo unfortunately got lost in a computer glitch a while back. Now it's here in all its glory!  

Thanks to Lona Patton of Wyoming for the great photo of Joker, a 15-year-old BLM mustang.

Setting the Bar

Every January we hear a lot in advertising about "this year I resolve to…." One interesting trend I’ve been noticing is that this year instead of saying "resolve to stick to goals you set for yourself," people are saying “resolve to not resolve.” In other words, they’re giving themselves—and us—permission to set the bar low and not follow through with our goals.

While setting realistic goals is important, if we set the bar low, how do we ever learn to push ourselves beyond the level of mediocre?

This year I have three resolutions for 2009:

#1: Qualify for and compete in Western Pleasure for two regional Arabian breed shows with my young Arabian gelding.

#2: Improve my reining riding skills enough to be able to successfully compete in breed and open organization events, such as NWRA.

#3: Lose 20 lbs to help my riding.

I am working hard at all three goals and am hoping to debut my gelding in Junior Horse Western Pleasure at the Windy Tides Schooling Show series this coming March as a warm-up.

While goal #1 is a rather large goal, it will keep me working hard instead of coasting. Goals #2 and #3 are more reasonable for me but still enough to force me to work, and if I put it in print it helps hold me accountable.

So let’s not be afraid to resolve to reach the high bar this year!

What are some of your equine-related goals? Start that 4-year-old? Learn a new discipline? Take a more challenging trail? Spend three days a week in the saddle instead of three days a month? Comment below and let us know!

In the meantime, get out and ride!

Help for Horses

Sunshine anyone? The past several weeks have brought us record amounts of snow followed by record amounts of rain on top of the snow to bring on major and minor flooding throughout the Northwest region. It has seemed at times as if we might never see the sunshine again, but thankfully it has decided to make an appearance this week and help us all dry out.

For those horse owners who may have suffered damage to their barns and fields and need a place to keep their horses safe until repairs can be made,  there is help at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, WA, where currently more than 100 horses are seeking refuge.  For more information on this, visit http://www.komonews.com/news/local/37488089.html

Second Chance Ranch and Horse Reunions.com are sponsoring a  food drive to help owners of displaced horses feed them.  For more information on how you can help, visit http://flakesale.com.

Do you know of any other locations people can go for assistance with displaced horses?  Please comment here or email me directly at Karyn@nwhorsesource.com. We’d love to share information with all of our readers on how we can help one another.

In the meantime, I hope you’re high and drying out. Now get out and ride!

Reader Photo of the Week

This week's reader photo is "Angela and Oreo"

Submitted by William Burley

Back in the Saddle Again

by Karyn "K.C." Cowdrey

After a twelve day hiatus in Eastern Washington over the holidays, I am finally back in the saddle and riding my young gelding who has made amazing progress in the past three months. What a great feeling to have the power we call horse under the saddle again.

On Tuesday, Kari (my trainer) informed me that Emmerson was ready for baby sliders! Wow. He’s ready to start working on becoming a real reiner. She also informed me that the HydraBull is coming to visit in a few weeks, and Emmerson is going to see if he likes chasing cows.

Now if we can just get his owner (me) up to speed as well, I think we have an exciting spring in front of us doing western pleasure, reining and maybe "green as grass" novice reined cow horse stuff.

Do you spend your winter months working on training issues to make the good months of late spring and summer even better, or do you take the winter off?

I hope everyone is staying dry this week; I am fighting a flooded basement and minor flooding and roof leaks in my barn, so I feel for those of you who are dealing with the same or worse. In the meantime, take time to get out and ride!

Living the Horse Dream

by Karen Pickering

A friend forwarded me the essay below recently, and it really says it all. All except the ex-husband sounds like my life and I believe the life of many of our readers, so click the link and enjoy. Even if you've read it before, it is well worth visiting again.

A Simple Statement - I Ride

Reader Photo of the Week

Photo of Jack Emory riding Rock's Gone Country teaching a young filly how to "lead up."

Photo by Lisa Emory

Bad Case of Equine Withdrawal Disease

It’s been over a week since I last saw my horses; I’m off snowmobiling and enjoying time with my family. 

While I definitely have been having a good time in all of this snow, I've started having serious Equine Withdrawal Disease (EWD) symptoms.  What are the symptoms, you ask?  

First of all, if you drive by a field with a horse in it, do you automatically say, "I sure miss (insert your horse's name here"?  Then do you go on to say how much you hope they’re behaving...even though you've called the horse sitter and trainer at least once a day to check on them all?

The second symptom is guilt. Are you feeling as if your horses might actually be missing you? Do you insist on buying 42 different kinds of horse treats as you stop at every single equine related store you see? 

The third symptom is checking your favorite blogs to see who is doing what with their horses. 

The fourth symptom is telling your significant (non-horsey) other how you can not wait to get home so you can see your horses, which in turn makes him/her feel completely unimportant. 

Vacation is great, but I think I need to find a place to go that lets me take the horses with me next year! 

Happy New Year Everyone!  Get out and ride!